Our Caribbean Province?

The beautiful Turks and Caicos islands have for decades entertained the possibilities of an alignment with Canada. Over the last four decades, the Canadian House of Commons has heard discussions and had varying levels of support for a political union between Canada and the Turks and Caicos. There has been talk of the islands joining Nova Scotia, or becoming their own 11th Canadian Province.

In 2009, the Member of Parliament for Edmonton East, Peter Goldring sent correspondence in an effort to re-open dialogue with the government of the Turks and Caicos. It is certainly an interesting read and does indeed show there is still interest in pursuing discussions. Link to the letter from the House of Commons.

The Canadian influence can certainly be seen across the Caribbean with three of our banks being the largest operators of banking institutions in the English speaking Caribbean. I can't say for certain which Canadian banks those are, but I CAN say absolutely, without a doubt, we drove past a CIBC location and an RBC location in the Turks and Caicos. Later, I used an instant teller at the airport that was Scotiabank. And, the grocery store in Provo was located right next to a beautiful, modern Scotiabank building. So, without better research, I state those three as my best guess.

Canadian banks can be seen and used readily in the Bahamas as well.

Canadian tourists are welcomed and should feel comfortable in the British West Indies. We have long since invited and supported trade and development in these areas and in 2009 added the Caribbean on our government's list of preferred foreign aid recipients.

Every year tourism continues to grow as an industry. The people of the Turks and Caicos welcome over 200,000 tourists to their islands annually. If you are interested in learning more about what the islands have to offer, visit their official tourism website.